Other players had different expressions. Hei Shengzi's face was gloomy, while Li Ang smiled nonchalantly.

13mArk spoke his suspicions about Hei Shengzi through Yu Yi's mouth.

Although this behavior was somewhat ungentlemanly,

it was perfectly normal from his perspective.

Players on floors 10, 11, 12, and 9 had died successively. According to the pattern, the next to die was likely Hei Shengzi on the 13th floor or 13mArk on the 8th floor.

13mArk had been idle last night. He only saw Li Ang and Hei Shengzi take the elevator to the ninth floor around 3:30 a.m., staying there for a long time (entering room 0908 to find Bob).

Then, they continued up to the 14th floor (to notify Bai Haozheng),

before descending to the 8th floor to inform 13mArk that Bob was missing and possibly dead.

As a player from Brazil, 13mArk didn't know the details of Hei Shengzi and Li Ang.

Suspecting that they had colluded to murder Bob and then frame the anomaly wasn't an entirely absurd hypothesis.

"I don't trust you."

13mArk stared at Hei Shengzi and said bluntly, "If I'm idle tonight, I'll take the left elevator. Come if you want, it's up to you."

With the examples of Hei Shengzi and Li Ang surviving safely, 13mArk was convinced that the elevator was safe.

It could not only defend against potential anomalies in the corridor but also resist the six unknown figures in bamboo hats.

Taking a spot in the elevator himself was definitely safer than letting two unknown random teammates enter.

"Hmph."

Hei Shengzi remained expressionless and snorted coldly, not arguing further. The probability of a note appearing was completely random, so it wasn't likely that 13mArk would be idle.

"Let's all calm down. If I'm idle tonight, I'll try to get into the elevator too."

Bai Haozheng stepped in to ease the tense atmosphere, "Anyway, let's organize the information we've gathered first.

The diary of Martin Anderson that I found in the maze, and the 'Ouija' Carter Murphy's account of what happened to Mule,

both explain some of the hotel's characteristics.

First, the hotel selects ordinary humans who disappeared or died in the real world to become residents.

It's unclear whether those ordinary people are really dead,

or alive but the hotel staff lied about their deaths,

or were resurrected by the hotel."

"Hmm?"

Wanli Fengdao thought for a moment, "Didn't Carter Murphy say that the hotel staff informed him that all the residents in the hotel had died once, and that their ability to stand, run, and breathe was due to the hotel's special effects?

Do you suspect the hotel staff lied?"

"It's possible."

Bai Haozheng nodded, "Secondly, the hotel's method of selecting ordinary people may be supernatural,

such as accidentally entering a forest and finding a sudden staircase, and climbing up—this scene corresponds to what you saw on TV earlier.

It seems that the video was indeed informing players about the hotel's information.

And the third point, which is also the most important.

The anomalous events in the rooms are caused by the hotel rooms' former residents.

They died in the hotel and were affected by some of the Dolphin Hotel's characteristics, turning into Juyo-like (The Grudge) earthbound spirits.

These earthbound spirits remain latent during the day,

and become active at night.

Instinctively, or influenced by the Dolphin Hotel,

they actively contact, harm, or kindly remind players—depending on the state of the earthbound spirit."

"That makes sense."

Ω said in a low voice, "The constant knocking on the doors in the rooms, the stone statues in the corridors, the old woman in red, the endless corridors, the dark space...

But we players have received two or even more notes.

Does that mean there are two earthbound spirits in one room?"

"Maybe more than two."

Bai Haozheng shook his head, "Remember what Carter Murphy said? As far as he knows, the residents of the Dolphin Hotel are frequently replaced.

Some people disappear, or even die.

Those people should all be old residents of the hotel, and wouldn't fail to follow the rules—that's the main reason why I suspect the hotel staff didn't completely reveal the truth.

If multiple deaths have occurred in a hotel room, it's entirely possible for multiple earthbound spirits to exist in the same room."

Hearing Bai Haozheng's words, the other players' faces turned unsightly.

A major reason why survival missions are criticized by players

is that as time goes on, players face increasingly fierce attacks, the probability of death increases sharply, until the survival time limit ends.

No one can guarantee what will happen on the last night. Players may face attacks from two, three, or even more anomalous phenomena...

Under that kind of attack intensity, can anyone really survive?

"And the fourth point,"

Bai Haozheng took a deep breath, "is that earthbound spirits are not completely unable to communicate. Their state of consciousness preservation varies.

Some of them have a high degree of self-awareness and are even benevolent to players, such as the woman in the bathtub that Liu Wu Dai encountered before, the TV program that Wanli Fengdao watched,

and the woman in a kimono that Mu Yin Zhi Gui saw on the stone bridge in his dream.

And others, although they are also aggressive, can be calmed down from a chaotic state and become communicable through some means.

Such as the Ouija in Mule's room."

"Not necessarily,"

Li Ang waved his hand and casually talked about the three oil paintings, "...I forcefully poured seawater, but still couldn't get any information from her.

Thinking about it now, maybe the method wasn't right.

If she didn't respond to force, maybe if I praised her, she would calm down and regain consciousness."

"Hmm?"

Liu Wu Dai glanced at Li Ang, and asked curiously, "Didn't you say that the lower half of the face of the girl hiding her face behind a fan was swollen and rotten, and that looking at it would make you become like her?"

"Yeah,"

Li Ang spread his hands and said seriously, "But praising the self-portraits or portraits of ladies is a compulsory course for a gentleman.

Don't look at me like this, I almost became the head of the fan club (short for the head of the fan group) of beautiful girl idols in the idol talent show.

Writing a few praise articles to earn traffic and稿酬(gaochou, payment for articles), is easy.

Like, 'I'm just a passerby, not interested in talent shows, but after seeing your photo, I understand for the first time what the word怦然心动(peng ran xin dong, heart skips a beat) means.'

'Tch, I thought she was just a beauty, but I didn't expect her to be a stunning beauty, speechless??.'

'Miss, without makeup, you are naturally beautiful, and with makeup, you are a fairy descending to earth????'

'Quickly return my heart, you heart stealer??.'"

???

Everyone couldn't help but look at Li Ang with strange eyes. No, what does this brother do in the real world?